Tomorrow’s Teachers: The TEACH-NOW Blog

In the past 50 years, the U.S. and other countries have spent billions to develop information systems to measure P-12 student learning. In the U.S., states employ various standardized tests to determine what students know, and then disaggregate the data to determine how districts and schools are performing… Continue Reading

When TEACH-NOW was still an idea, I asked myself, “What would the ideal teacher preparation program look like?” I examined the research on the most valuable components of teacher preparation programs as rated by practicing teachers in the United States. Not surprisingly, the teachers rated their clinical experiences and own teaching experience highest, but “learning from other teachers/colleagues” was a close second… Continue Reading

The absence of good data on teacher preparation programs and their graduates has been a perennial issue for the profession, policymakers, and the public. The National Research Council, in its 2010 report, Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy, explained that it could not evaluate which program characteristics produce effective teachers; there simply wasn’t enough comparable data to collect… Continue Reading